The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-06-02

T0llcW3nR nlGRt : 10 meeG me-fSOSeGte
whom I loved, and who returned that
Lowell
s. s'Think of IT, gentlemen, the cruelty Of
this fateS and had only been in that
devilishs post Of Cure three months, all
told. But it Is useless to speak Of that,
or to tell you Of the fears, the regrets and
memories that threw mo into sort Of
torpor. Twas benufnbed, stupefed, and
at last fell asleep. s...ss -
Suddenly I awoke with start. I had
heard q voice that to me had the sound Of
I hell. i It; was the voice Of Petit Francois
speaking to his brothers. Z
g: - % .1,heaspy<is down there, Of course,
said he; sbutno matters in my case we
must try the fire, and smoke him out.
Tune up the .violinsi' Then all was
ssilencel
~ "a man in the hour of approaching
death has such need OF tenderness and af-
lection that I wished even to embrace for
! the last time my little Bijou; but where
was hea i felt all around me, I called him
softly; he was gone--my only friend had
Disappeared
The silence continued perhaps for half
an hour. Mechanically grnsping the
I shand1aof my sword, q waited efnfthe dark
mess, determined to sell my life as dearly
vas possible IN case they should unexpectr
Eedly invade the cavern by ON entrance
known only to themselves.
See my hair, gentlemen; white as the
driven snow and I am not yet 40:years Of
agei It comes from that awful expert
ence. God keep you from suffering the
Z sEkel ..5..sssl.....
s.But all at once,n the gendafthe con-
tinued, ..the place was filed with a flash
of Hght-Petit Francois and his brothers
had begun their internal work-they were
smoking me outl To leave my hiding
place behind the tales Of merchandise and
I 5endeavor to extinguish the brands would
! only be presenting myself as target for
their revoIvers. On the other hand, the
acrid smoke Of the burning boughs filed
my throat and stopped my breathing. My
ears already fIng and roared with the
noise Of o thousand devils. So
AT last + could stand It no longer, and
cried for mercy = :,
$50 90 not burn me; Petit Francois, I
begged; do not burn me, for I surrender.
Kill me afterward II you please, but air
( for the love Of God, give me airp
sThenit Is you, Abram,' he replied;
.yon, the spyl So much tho better. !.
long ago reserved you for morsel for the
] dogs. But, draw him up, boys; draw him
9 to the top. Iwan,t to see the grimaces
he'll make when VIC hang him to the
branches. Let down rope; he'll cling
Ito. it fast enough. And be sure, he
added, In q lower tone Of voice, shat no
one else Is there.
ah moment later the rope descended,
and, like the drowning man who clings to
straw, ISwas not long in selling and
lashing myse) ito it, for between tive.
deaths one is certain to choose that which
/ Is! furthest off. Pull up!' cried Petit
! Francois, but scarcely had I reached the
level Of the path when he rushed upon
! me, upset me and bound me hand and
foot, and with those never to be loosened
knots Of tho contrabandists s
I st Now, children, said he, we must
decamp from here and as quickly as pos
sible Recover the opening with pine
bonghs and snow, and then, Monsieur
.Abram, we win take you fcr a prone
made
'' s.s.The entrance to the cavern again con-
5cealed, Petit. Francois slackened, the cords
which bound my feet enough for me to
walk hung upon my back and neck
5b6ndls of:merchandise and ordered me to
fall in line and carry like beast ofsbur
i den. Ah, how those ssceundrels laughed
and jeered as they prodded me along with
Z the ends OF their arbinesl 3 You may not
think 1t from the position I was in, but I
began to have a little hope. ThereSwas q
chance, you see-a slight one, it is true
that some of'my colleagues would b0- on
sentry at a narrow defile not far from the
hollow Of the Crouaz, where there was a
sort of breach in the wall for conceal
ment. 4. -l...
1.-THE contrabandists evidently had the
same reflection, for they turned to the
right and continued the assembly q more
: circuitous passage, butwhich would bring
-as lin rear of any one on guard at that
point 1t was now. in the neighborh
of; 3 o'clock. We walked for an houR
longer, when Petit Francois called a halt,
and, taking the package I had carried
since we left the hollow, he concealed it in
& a crevice Of the rocks which overhur the
side. .:.. IS ~ s..
s. sss Take a, look at your gibbet, Abram,'
i he cried, with a. nDcking laugh. You
cannot say that i have chosen it badly
and he pointed toward a monster pine
tree occupying the center Of the clearing,
whose branches, thick as ordinary tree
trunks, extended from the sides like the
arms Of q huge candelabra.
All summer long, the tourists of the
mountains will come to call upon you as
you came to call upon me-for which, my
pretty eblackbird. approaching me with
curses, you will hang up there
tiff you had seen the face of that mon
ster, bis lips trembling with rage, hiss
hands as big as ,battledores, and covered
with rough and hairy Skin, you would
have known at once that prayers and APP
peals to: his mercy would simply have been
time thrown away. It only remained for